Hohhot city -- capital of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region -- reported economic growth in the first five months of the year, with the added value of industries above a designated scale increasing 6.4 percent year-on-year, according to the city's statistics bureau.

Fixed asset investment in the period decreased by 33 percent but total export-import volumes surged 20.4 percent to hit 6.51 billion yuan ($930 million), compared with the previous corresponding period.

Officials said that as the novel coronavirus outbreak wanes, the vast majority of businesses in Hohhot have resumed work and production. The output and operation of services industry companies above a designated scale -- those with annual revenue of 20 million ($2.8 million) or more -- has gradually resumed.

Officials said that from January to May, the city's services industry enterprises above designated size achieved operating income of 21.89 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.4 percent.

But they said the rate of decline narrowed by 1.1 percentage points from January to April and was 0.5 percentage points lower than the average level for the autonomous region.

Officials said that 36.5 percent of services industry enterprises above a designated size achieved a year-on-year increase in operating income.